990809 Gov’t Listeria Response “Hasty, Ill Conceived”August 4, 1999Washington - The federal government's proposed regulations aimed at controlling Listeria contamination of ready-to-eat products represent a “band- aid approach” that may not “provide meaningful enhancements to food safety,” according to the Grocery Manufacturers of America. In comments submitted to the Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service, GMA responded to FSIS recommendations for processors to reassess their food safety inspection plans for Listeria Monocytogenes contamination. The Listeria bacterium has been identified as the cause of several outbreaks of foodborne illness. The FSIS document, published May 26 in the Federal Register, “represents a hasty, ill-conceived response to pressures generated by recent events,” wrote Dr. Stacey Zawel, GMA Vice President, Scientific and Regulatory Policy, and James Skiles, GMA Vice President and General Counsel. “FSIS reaches conclusions about LM, and the potential hazards it presents, without consideration of the science or providing legally mandated opportunities for public comment. For these reasons, GMA urges the agency to reconsider the document carefully and suspend further action on all substantive requirements pending completion of a full notice and comment rulemaking procedure.” FSIS “cites no scientific support” for its apparent conclusion that LM “represents a hazard in the production of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products,” said GMA. “In addition, FSIS seemingly ignores the fact that the Food and Drug Administration is currently undertaking a comprehensive assessment of the risks posed by LM, including work on the critical issue of infectious dose. “This lack of coordination between FSIS and FDA has no place in the unified system of food safety the Administration has pledged to work toward. Thus, until FDA's assessment is completed, GMA respectfully suggests that the conclusions contained in the agency's Federal Register document are, at best, premature.” GMA repeated its previous comments that “mandating end product testing or any other means of identifying or controlling safety hazards is flatly inconsistent with the basic principles and philosophy of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points system.” “Under a HACCP system, responsibility for the safety of products lies with the processor,” wrote GMA. “It is the processor, therefore, that must evaluate its production process and institute the mix of measures it determines best controls the hazards identified. FSIS effectively deprives processors of this prerogative, dictating substantive command-and-control type regulatory requirements. “The agency should focus its resources on the development, in cooperation with industry and consumers, of improved methods of processing and handling to control the incidence of LM in food products in the first instance. The agency's strong endorsement, if not de facto requirement, for end product testing, is simply wrongheaded. It is crucial that the agency adhere to the principle of science-based regulation.” GMA's Board of Directors has approving funding for research on the Listeria monocytogenes bacteria, in order to help conduct a scientifically sound risk assessment and develop appropriate regulatory policies. The full text of GMA's letter to FSIS will be available at www.gmabrands.com. GMA is the world's largest association of food, beverage and consumer product companies. With U.S. sales of more than $450 billion, GMA members employ more than 2.5 million workers in all 50 states. The organization applies legal, scientific and political expertise from its member companies to vital food, nutrition and public policy issues affecting the industry. Led by a board of 42 Chief Executive Officers, GMA speaks for food and consumer product manufacturers at the state, federal and international levels on legislative and regulatory issues. The association also leads efforts to increase productivity, efficiency and growth in the food, beverage and consumer products industry.
|
